Aquatic insects are essential components of healthy stream ecosystems, contributing to nutrient cycling, trophic dynamics and other ecological functions. Aquatic insect species, particularly those in the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT taxa) are however, extremely sensitive to insecticide contamination. Given that urban and agricultural use of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides...
The aim of this research is to develop a fundamental understanding of the dominant defect species and the relevant defect equilibrium conditions for bismuth-containing perovskites to help guide the development of these materials for emerging applications. This is of paramount importance for many demanding applications, because ultimately the defect equilibria...
The primary purpose of this study was to identify the
competencies essential for effective performance as a rural
public health sanitarian in developing countries. The need
to identify rural sanitarian competencies in developing
countries is closely related to the World Health Organization's
goal of "Health for all by the year...
Data visualizations designed for academic scientists are not immediately meaningful to everyday scientists. Communicating between a specialized, expert audience and a general, novice public is non-trivial; it requires careful translation. However, more widely available visualization technologies and platforms, including new three-dimensional spherical display systems in schools and informal science education...
Whether microevolutionary processes can explain macroevolutionary patterns has long been a matter of contentious debate. The debate has persisted largely because of the challenging task of connecting microevolutionary theory, which examines population-level phenomena on the generation scale, to data collected across larger spatial and temporal scales. My dissertation research broadly...
This thesis is the consequence of a research effort undertaken by the School of Civil and Construction Engineering at Oregon State University and funded by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA). The principal objective of the effort was to reduce the life cycle cost...
My thesis is an exploration of xánthiip (Karuk for black oak, Quercus kelloggii) restoration within the Karuk Tribe’s Ancestral Territory in present-day northwestern California. Black oak is a cultural keystone species for the Karuk and has been chosen as one of the species to guide Tribally led forest restoration work...
This document partially addresses the Wetlands component of San Juan County’s Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO). Drawing from a foundation in best available science, it describes important functions performed by the County's wetlands, effects of various activities on those functions, and strategies for protecting wetland functions from impacting activities, with an...
The sagebrush ecosystem, home to numerous plant and animal species including big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and the endemic greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), has endured fragmentation and degradation of both quantity and quality due to the cumulative and synergistic relationships between an abundance of individual disturbances including grazing, invasive annuals and...